Jump 030: Lord of the Rings

Jump 030: Lord of the Rings

Location: Free Choice (Rivendell)
Age: 27
Identity: Human
Drawbacks: [+600] Taste Of The Valinor, The Black Riders

[50/1600]   Archery
[Free]      Forestry
[150/1600]  Elven Grace
[350/1600]  Mental Fortitude
[750/1600]  Dwarven Craft
[1250/1600] Elven Enchantment
[1550/1600] Blood Of Kings
[1600/1600] Lembas Bread

There is much that could be said of my time here, but I shall be brief.

Gandalf recognized me, of course. How could he not? No matter my form, concealing myself from the Valar and Maiar has always been ineffective. They may not be able to see where I weave into the future designs of the world, but if they can lay eyes upon me they know me for what I am. And so, too, do the Black Riders as they are possessed of a piece of a Maia; I stirred up enough trouble on the edges of Mordor in years past, so as soon as I cropped up again they began to seek me out.

Elrond was less than thrilled at the prospect of a human approaching Rivendell on foot, being all but undetected. He was far more displeased when I gained audience with him and told him of who and what I was - someone who was on the wrong side of history from his perspective, even if he was very circumspect in how he spoke to me, considering my existence in history as a dragon in ages past.

When I told him that the turning of the age was nigh... well, he forgot his forcibly pleasant demeanor. It came back, however, when I gave some crucial information to him. The Ring would be found, yes, but this time destroyed - so long as the ringbearers chose wisely. When questioned, I immediately expressed my disinterest in being anywhere remotely near the damnable object's vicinity, and instead offered to run interference.

The Black Riders were chiefly among my hunters, but were not my sole pursuers; every manner of evil creature came for me wherever they could be found. While this may have been more than troublesome, it had a happy side effect for the bystanders, in that the more than was sent after me, the less that remained to act as predators toward the locals. Werewolves, spiders, and other fell beasts chased me as soon as they caught my scent.

After the first couple of years, however, this began to have a wider effect. When uruk armies went on the march, some of their elements would get sidetracked and I'd end up with platoons of angry, dirty orc-like soldiers doing their level best to murder me. There were plenty of knock-on effects from there... among them, Shelob's slaying before she could meet the ring-bearer, which kept him from being weakened quite as much as he was. In the end, the hobbit was able to resist the pull of the ring just long enough to throw it into the fire.

Other side effects included the successful testing of Liquid Reason to dispel the corruptive effects of certain dark forces in the world. Force-feeding it to Saruman was... not a trivial task, but it was ultimately successful; he destroyed as much of his corrupted work as he could to make amends as best as possible, and went west. What he did not destroy, the ents did. Force-feeding it to Gollem was more successful, but... well, that poor creature was sustained by his corruption. His end was quick and painless, if nothing else.

And as for myself...

It is said that the first dragon to be brought into being in Middle-Earth was also the last to be seen at the turning of the age, its enormous wings carrying it west over the city of Gondor, at a time that it was besieged.

In the wake of what seemed to some to be a flying mountain over the battlefield below, it left a field of frozen uruk-hai soldiers yet spared the men of Gondor and their allies, turning the tide of the conflict in a single icy breath as it cut off any reinforcement for those near the city. Their reinforcements further back were beset upon soon after with the rising of the sun, and the arrival of more allies of Gondor, Gandalf the White at their head.

But never again was a dragon seen in this world, after that day.